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Russian fighter jet flies within five feet of American spy plane

Russian fighter jet flies within five feet of American spy plane

Evan Douglas | June 22, 2017, 6:31

Russian fighter jet flies within five feet of American spy plane

One day after Russia flew within 5 feet of United States recon plane flying over the Baltic, NATO buzzed past Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's plane while carrying the Russian defense minister.

It was intercepted by a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet that approached at a high rate of speed.

Hernandez said the USA spy plane did not provoke the close encounter, and it was not immediately clear whether or not the two aircrafts communicated, according to the Associated Press.

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation planes "attempted to escort" the plane carrying Mr. Shoigu over the Baltic Sea, according to an account by the Russian news agency Tass, which had a reporter on board at the time.

"While being escorted, the RC-135 attempted to move closer towards the Russian interceptor, making a provocative turn towards the Su-27, " a statement by Russian defense officials reads.

Intercepts between U.S. and Russian aircraft are common and are generally not as dangerously close.

In April 2016, the pattern included Russian Su-24s zipping no more than a few hundred feet by the USS Donald Cook, a Navy destroyer, "dangerously close" to the ship, USA officials said.

Sweden's top military authority said a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter flew on Monday close to a Swedish Gulfstream reconnaissance plane, adding the distance between them "was very short". On June 20, 2017, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry reported that the alliance's jets had made more than 30 interceptions in the previous week.

"As is standard practice whenever unknown aircraft approach NATO air space, NATO and national air forces took to the sky to monitor these flights", a NATO official said.

Reacting to the downing of the Syrian jet, Russian Federation said it was "a cynical violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic" and "military aggression". "We assess the Russian pilots' behaviour as safe and professional". The military has already had 35 interactions with Russian planes in the area in just the last 18 days.

Russian Federation has previously threatened to take military action in response to US attacks on its allies elsewhere in Syria.

Russian Federation later warned that it would be tracking US-led coalition aircraft as potential targets. Russia, which is aligned with the Syrian government and carrying out military operations in Syria alongside it, condemned the incident and said Monday that it would track US aircraft over Syria.

In Europe, Washington's and Moscow's goals have become even further polarized as the two powers bolster defenses along North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Russia's mutual borders.

Boris Rozhin, military observer and editor-in-chief of the Kassad information-analytical center, believes that the F-16's risky maneuver could be considered an unfriendly signal on the part of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the US.